Window to Reality
by Reefdamsel
Summary: A young girl finds her video game addiction come to life when she gets sucked into the game of World of Warcraft. She and her guildmates now have to conquer dragons, Defias, merlocs and various horde in their search for a way back home. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

It all began with a patch.

It was Tuesday and like every Tuesday, World of Warcaft was shut down for "routine maintenance". This Tuesday was special, though, and we all knew it. This was patch Tuesday. 2.1 was supposed to be the patch where Blizzard would fix the paladins, making them more playable. Even though my main was a hunter, I was still looking forward to the various small changes to the hunters and to the game in general. Patch Tuesdays always led to new additions and exciting surprises.

They also usually meant longer down time. So it just figured that this would be the day when a freak snowstorm would blow through and force my entire city to shut down, giving us all a day off of work. A day that I would have liked to spend with a mug of hot chocolate, two kitties and my Night Elven hunter, Kelirien. Instead, I was spending it practically pacing my apartment living room, waiting for "routine maintenance" to be complete.

**Runtwell: I found the patch addy!**

The message flashed up on my IRC chat window, where myself and several other girls were impatiently waiting out the downtime. Her comment was followed by the internet address where we could download the patch, getting that much closer to the time when we could finally log on. Everyone in the chatroom quickly followed the link, including me: 'save as' 'okay' 'continue'. The little window on my monitor showed papers floating from a small globe into a folder as the patch downloaded onto my computer.

I resumed pacing then as the chat continued and my two level 1 critters – Trevor and Jesse – watched their mother move back and forth in front of the computer. Finally the patch was downloaded and began to install. Curious, I returned to my desk to read through the description of the newest patch. I blinked. I scrolled down. Scrolled up again.

Instead of the usual page after page of changes – some big additions, some minute bug fixes, my patch description window read simply:

**Patch 2.x**

**Virtual Reality Bug Fixed**

I shook my head. Maybe this wasn't the right patch? Wouldn't it figure I'd download a virus instead. I wasn't going to panic, though. Maybe Blizzard was being funny again? Who knew. So I waited. The patch took forever to install. Then, just to be safe, I ran McCafee. No sign of viruses. I even asked the other girls if they had noticed the weird description. None of them admitted to having paid attention.

"Well, I guess we just wait and see, then." I mused allowed. And so we did. Wait, that is. And wait.

Over time impatience grew to frustration. Then into anger and desperation. We were like crack addicts going through serious withdraws. Every couple of hours Blizzard posted a memo saying that maintenance was taking longer than expected and that servers should be up soon. They never were. 10 o'clock in the morning turned to 2 o'clock in the afternoon, then to 6 o'clock in the evening. The wind continued to pound snow against my window, I finished off all of my hot chocolate, most of my leftovers and called every one of my family members to catch up. I balanced my checkbook, watched a movie and even cleaned out the litter box. Still, routine maintenance continued on.

Finally, it was with a very strong feeling of disappointment in Blizzard that I retired for the night. An entire day wasted waiting for what should have been 5 hours of downtime and a new patch. The only good sign was that the snowstorm didn't seem to have slacked off – we might actually get another day off. Hah, not likely. It was more likely that we would lose power during the night if it kept up. And there I'd be with yet another day unable to play World of Warcraft. With that distressing thought, I fell asleep, with no clue that the new patch had already begun.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, it was to the sound of raucous laughter from a little ways away. There was a large warm form against my back and it was vibrating with an almost violent purr. My eyes flickered open. Then I sat up quickly, cursing violently when my head hit the low hanging ceiling. I was sitting on a bed in a small bunker. Like the resting quarters in a boat, with two beds and 2 hammocks. A doorway lead into a hallway and the walls were rounded as if I was up against the curved hull of a massive ship. Behind me was a huge spotted snow leopard who was still sleeping peacefully and purring loudly.

"What the hell…?" I asked, one hand still rubbing the bump on my head. The cat's head snapped up and it looked at me with bright green, intelligent eyes. "Uh… hi." The cat continued to purr.

Slowly, I inched out of the bed, the cat stood up to follow. "Stay." The cat sat. "Good kitty…" slowly I inched back further. Once I was a relatively safe distance away (relative being the key word), I swallowed and looked around again. "Where am I?" As if the cat was going to answer. But even as I asked I noticed a scroll at my feet. A scroll I could have sworn wasn't there 5 seconds ago. Still keeping an eye on the large cat, I slowly knelt down and picked up the scroll, opening it. Inside was a… map. A very large map of a piece of land that looked suspiciously like Italy… except it seemed to be covered with jungle. I frowned. "Stranglethorn Vale…? But that would be…" The map shimmered then reappeared as a much larger view of an entire continent – more specifically the Eastern Continent. "… in Azeroth. Oh, damn. I'm dreaming."

After almost a minute of staring at the large cat, waiting for it – not it, her – to go away, I finally decided it was time to brace myself for the dream and… well, maybe not enjoy it, but go with the flow. "You… must be Whisper," I told the cat. She tilted her head, still staring at me. "Which makes me… Keli." Tentatively, a little fearfully, I reached up. And even though I already knew what I would find, the long pointed ears had me yelping and jumping back. "Oh my God, I'm an elf!" Whisper just stared back at me with those unblinking green eyes.

Taking a deep breath and forcing myself to think about anything but the enormous additions to my head, I checked the backpack lying at the foot of the bed. Opening it, I began to pull out items… a slew of potions, a single round silver stone about the size of my fist, some scrolls – magical ones? – and various pieces of junk – claws, fangs and some ruined pelts. How did one fit this much stuff into one backpack? Next I went through the rest of my bags. One held more food than would fit in my refrigerator, all meat. Another held various pieces of armor and weapons. All of the bags clearly had familiar relationships to Merlin's bag of tricks or a D&D bag of holding, because the physical space inside fairly exceeded the size of the bags themselves.

The armor I was wearing was various pieces of leather, most of which seemed to be of decent quality. And it would have been spare enough to get me sent home from work for indecent exposure if it wasn't for the guild tabard that I wore over it – a dark blue tunic with a white rose on the front. "The sisters." I murmured to myself, awed. "This is the most realistic dream I have /ever/had/." I half laughed to myself. Reaching back, I pulled free a massive long sword whose sharp steel blade was glowing dull red. The long bow on the bed beside me was accompanied with a simple leather quiver – simple until I realized that it, like the bags, was not restrained by the laws of physics and easily held more than 2500 arrows inside it.

I was shaking my head as the sounds of laughter caught my ears again and I stood up, grabbing my possessions. "Well. Let's go see what's so funny." I stepped through the doorway into the hall, then stopped. I glanced back. Whisper was still sitting on the bed, staring at me. "Uhm… follow?" The large cat immediately hopped off the bed and came to my side. "Right… okay. Let's go, then."

In the hallway, I took the stairs down into a tavern where a goblin was serving drinks and two women – one elf, one human – were dancing nearly naked on the top of the bar. Feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment at the sight, I didn't let myself tarry in the bar but hurried out into the city.

If one could call Booty Bay a city. It was a harbor, built on multiple layers of docks in the back of a cove at the southern tip of Stranglethorn Vale. As I stepped out of the inn, two tauren – giant cow-like creatures – hurried by, barely taking time to snarl mockingly at me as they passed. Horde. Disgusting. But I was quickly distracted from the disrespectful bovines by the sight that met me as I turned the corner. There, out through the cove entrance towards the open sea, was quite possibly the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. The orange globe was brilliant as it set into the horizon waters, sending rays of red, gold and purple across the sea and high into the sky. It silhouetted the giant goblin statue on the island in the distance with a blazing red fire.

I swallows breathless, unheeding of all the strange looks I no doubt was getting. "Now this," I told Whisper, "is the life."


	3. Chapter 3

An hour passed and I sat on the pier, watching as night settled into Booty Bay. All around me, goblins, pirates, horde and alliance adventurers passed by, going about their business. I was enjoying the scene, the feel of the city. It was as if the entire city was buzzing with an innate energy, full of excitement and adventure. If this was going to be my dream, I was going to sit back and enjoy it.

But after an hour, I began to get bored. How long was this dream going to last? I glanced at Whisper. She was staring at me expectantly and when I met her gaze, she meowed. She didn't look happy. I blinked. She pawed at my bags. "Oh!" I laughed, "Are you hungry?" Digging through my food bag, I pulled out a bowl of thick stew and eyed it. "Let me guess. Jungle Stew." Whisper didn't seem to care, she just wanted it. I barely managed to keep my hand intact as she claimed the food and devoured it. "Alright, alright! Careful!" She just kept eating.

Snorting, I let the large cat alone and begin to explore more carefully the rest of my belongings. And that's when I noticed the headset. I'm not sure what else to call it. It looked like the kind of headset and microphone used by the receptionist at work, except that it had no cord and it was completely, absolutely transparent. No wonder I had missed it the first time. As I inspected it, I found several tiny buttons on the side of the ear piece. Four of the buttons were labeled with numbers. A fifth one was labeled with the letter g.

"Curiouser and curiouser," I commented softly. "Do we want to take wagers on what these are?" Whisper ignored me, but I think she'd learned by now just to smile and nod. On a whim, I unpressed the numbered buttons, leaving the g-button pressed. And then I put the headset on.

"No, I didn't see it," came a female's voice through the headset.

"It said something weird, but I didn't catch what," another female voice replied.

"Keli!" said a third.

"Uh… hi."

"You made it." The second voice said. "This is Brecki."

"Tori, here." Said the first voice.

"Vrand!" Said the third.

I smiled. Of course I recognized the names of three of my guildmates. Kelirien, Brecki, Tori and Vrand were all members of the Sisters of Faith, an all girl's guild on our server. I had never heard their voices before, but somehow they fit. Tori's voice was higher pitched, like the voice of a young girl – or the voice of a short, bouncy (and squishy) gnome warlock. Vrand's voice sounded exotic, a lot like mine, I realized. Perhaps even a bit moreso. But then, she was the resident elven druid. Brecki's voice was… well, normal. Perhaps a little formal. Exactly what you'd expect from a human paladin.

"So, what's going on?" I asked, glancing around to see if anyone was staring at me, the idiot noob talking into thin air. No one seemed to notice. Even Whisper was ignoring me, pawing at my packs in search for more food.

"It was the patch. It sucked us into the game," Tori replied.

"You're joking, right. That's impossible. We're dreaming."

"Okay, so the patch entered our subconscious and took us into the dream, then." Brecki replied.

"More like our addiction caused us to go crazy and withdraw has us hallucinating," I retorted, skeptical.

"Whatever you call it," Brecki replied, "We're here. And hey, it's the best dream I've ever had."

I couldn't argue with that. "So, we're just playing, then?"

"We're meeting in Stormwind tomorrow morning," Tori explained. "Hopefully we'll have gotten in touch with more guildmates by then."

Hopefully we'd be awake and able to play normally by tomorrow morning. But I didn't mention that little detail. "Okay. I guess it's business as usually until then."


	4. Chapter 4

There's little worth mentioning about the next day. I learned that Whisper loves to eat, that ogres are mean and that I'm actually pretty damn good with a bow. Heh. I also learned that Iron Forge is worse than Times Square on New Years Eve. No, really. I'm not joking.

You know those pictures you see on TV of the stock market? With all the men standing around, yelling and waving, selling stocks and buying entire countries? Well, entire businesses anyway? Yeah, that's the Auction House. I swear, it could be the final test for boot camp survival. I escaped two hours after I arrived with ringing ears, empty pockets and an "I survived the Auction House" T-shirt. Yup, a successful evening.

And with that it was time to decide where to bunk down for the night. I was exhausted, but I'm not an idiot – I was not about to try to sleep at the Iron Forge Inn. That would be worse than trying to sleep in a frat house after the last day of finals. Wasn't happenin'. So I headed to Stormwind instead.

Which, of course, involved experiencing a griffon flight for the second time. Which, I must say, is only marginally better than experiencing it for the first time.

Now I've always been your average American. You know, driver's license at sixteen, dependence on a working car ever since. You're lucky if you can get me to ride my bike to work. And I certainly had never spent more than a vacation day or two riding a horse. So, convincing me to get on a griffon was a little like convincing Harry Potter to get on that Hippogriff. Those beaks are really sharp. And the griffon is very tall. And there are no saddles. When I finally did get up the courage to pay someone to let me climb onto one (why would I pay someone to let me do that?), that continuous up and down motion brought on by the beating of wings big enough to smother an elephant very nearly made me nauseous. Staring down at the massive red dragons in the Searing Gorge helped, though. There's nothing like absolute terror to clear up a little motion sickness.

At any rate, I made it back to Stormwind and after regaining the blood flow to my legs, I hobbled my way to the inn and collapsed into a bed.

And woke up 2 hours later to a very hungry kitty. I fed the kitty and fell asleep again. Only to wake up 2 hours later to the same, very hungry kitty. This continued throughout the night. Note to self: get a self feeding cat bowl.

Come morning, I made my way to the fountain just outside the inn and was immediately greeted by another tall, female night elf with the same blue and white tabard as I was wearing. "Hey, Vrand. Where are the others?"

Vrand shrugged. "It's hard to see Tori sometimes – she's so short! But I'm sure they're coming."

Sure enough, we were joined moments later by Tori and Brecki. "Is this all?" I asked, "No sign of other guildies?"

"Nope," Tori shook her head. "I think it's just us."

Together we started to walk around Stormwind, as if our worry and confusion was turning to excitement that wouldn't let us stand still. "So, what do we do now?" Vrand asked, a question to which none of us had the answer.

Around us the great city of Stormwind was already wide awake. Some kids at the canal docks were talking about fish that could eat people. A man and dwarf, already drunk, stumbled down the street. And then I perked up at the soft tug on my tabbard, "Excuse me?" I stopped, turned to look down at a young boy with two white kittens – one in his arms, one following behind. "Excuse me? I'm looking for a home for my kitten. Will you adopt her? Daddy won't let me keep her."

I blinked. Then I stumbled as Whisper head butted me in the knees, purring. "What? Okay, okay!"

The boy grinned, "Thanks!" And before I knew it, my pockets were even lighter and there was a tiny white kitten in my arms.

"Bye, Timmy!" Brecki waved, laughing.

The boy frowned, turning back, "How do you know my name?"

"Uh..." We all got a good laugh out of Brecki's discomfort.

The boy skipped back toward us, "Hey, you're not one of Andy's friends, are you?"

"Who?" Tori asked.

"Andy! The king, silly."

"Oh..." We were all very very confused by now. "Actually, we're on our way to see him." I told Timmy. Way to improvise Kelirien. 

Timmy's eyes lit up. "Great! Here, take this!" Pulling a sealed letter from his pocket, Timmy handed it to me. "I have to get home. You'll make sure he gets it, won't you?" But the little boy was racing off before I could answer. There was a silence as we all stood there, staring down the street.

"What just happened?" Brecki asked.

"I think we just became friends of the king," Aurowen replied.

"Andy?"

I laughed, "Andy... Andruin Wrynn. The boy king of Stormwind. Andy for short."

"You're kidding." Brecki snorted. "What kind of name is Andy, for a king?"

"I'd like to know what kind of little boy like Timmy knows the king by his first name," I replied.

"Well, let's find out!" Vrand suggested and we all nodded. Hey, we didn't have anything better to do. I glanced down and eyed the kitten still purring in my arms.

"Great. Now I have 2 cats to feed."


	5. Chapter 5

When we got to Stormwind Keep, the guards let us in without a word and we climbed the stairs to the central audience chamber. ALL the stairs. And there's a lot of them. When we reached the top, a tall, beautiful woman stood before us. It didn't take me more than a glance to realize that this woman was the standing proof that beauty is only skin deep. It was like there was a stormcloud of B.I.T.C.H hanging over her head and her expression was a combination of Professor McGonagal from Harry Potter and Yzma, the evil advisor in Disney's Emperor's New Groove. Um, yeah. Bitch.

"Can I help you?" Lady Prestor asked us sourly. Because, yeah, if you can't immediately identify the Bitch Woman, you obviously haven't been playing alliance very long.

"Yeah." I stopped. No one spoke. I peered back at them. How did I get to be the spokesperson here!

"Well?" the lady prodded drolly. "I'm growing old while you stand there."

I coughed. Bitch. "We're here to see King Wrynn."

"I'm afraid his Majesty is out. You'll have to come back later."

I shook my head. "No, I mean… Andruin Wrynn. He is king now, isn't he?"

Oops. Not the right thing to say. The woman's face screwed up as if I had just stuck her nose in a pile of griffon shit.

"Andruin is very busy. I'm afraid you'll have to speak with me instead."

"Oh. Well, you see, I've got this letter." I pulled the parchment from my pocket and held it up. "I'm afraid I am supposed to give it to him only."

Silence. Once again, I apparently did not say the right thing. "Apparently you are hard of hearing. Andruin cannot see you. So, either deal with me, or leave."

Yeah, like I'm going to deal with you. Bitch. "Okay, thanks." I turned and marched out, furious. I got halfway down the stairs before Vrand tugged on my tabard and I turned back. She pointed.

Lady Prestor was staring, distinctly pale, at Whisper, who had not moved. "Would you mind removing your pet from these chambers?" The woman demanded.

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, you must have insulted her. Either that or she's hungry." I grinned, "Or both." Whisper licked her lips and flicked her tail. God I love that cat. I almost choked to keep from laughing.

"I'll... inform the king that you are here to see him."

"That would be kind of you," I replied, sickening sweet, as the woman practically fled from the room. Returning up the stairs, I peered at Whisper. I could have sworn she grinned back at me. I tried to ignore the choking laugh from Vrand standing behind me.

A few minutes later, Andruin entered the room, followed by Bitch-woman. Whisper promptly sat, content. I shot her one queer look, then bowed to the boy. "You majesty. I carry a letter for you from a friend." The boy's eyes lit up and he took the letter, then opened it and read it. When the lady tried to read it over his shoulder, Whisper started to noisily lick her paw. Yeah that distracted the woman. When did my cat get so scary?

Looking up, Andruin stared at me with wide eyes. "You will? Really?"

I blinked. Okay... "I will what?"

"Find my father. Please! You will find him for us?"

Lady Prestor coughed, "Your majesty."

"They will! They will find him!"

"I think that's enough, your majes-" but bitch-woman broke off as Whisper hissed – actually hissed! Okay, so I finally admit, large cat is scary! The woman paled and clamped her mouth shut.

I swallowed. "We'll do our best, your majesty."

The look of total delight in Andruin's eyes nearly made me cry. Yeah, you try to deny him anything when he looks at you like that. "Thanks!"

"Right... we'll do our best." I mumbled, and suddenly intent on getting away very quickly, I bowed, shot one last glance at Lady Preston, who was glaring poisoned daggers at me, and excused myself. "Whisper…" but the cat was already following us out.

"Okay," Brecki commented as we stood once more in the canal district outside Stormwind Keep. "You are not allowed to be spokesperson any more."

"What did I just get us into?" I groaned.

"I thought Andruin was the king," Vrand frowned.

I shook my head. "It's a long story. Let's get to the Pig and Whistle. I need something to drink."


	6. Chapter 6

**In this chapter, I discuss some history that I'm actually pretty clueless about. Yes, the Prestor/Defias connection is total speculation on the part of the characters, but the history of Theramore... is that correct? Someone please correct me if this is wrong.**

I was feeling only slightly steadier on my feet when we climbed on a boat in Menethil Harbor almost 2 hours later.

"What's in Theramore?" Vrand asked curiously as we climbed up onto the upper deck to look around.

"It's an alliance outpost just off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh," Brecki explained. "Mostly humans, and ruled by Jaina Proudmore."

"So, they are a different… what, kingdom? Than the area around Stormwind?"

"Politically," I agreed. "I think they're what's left of the kingdom that was destroyed by the burning legion? Or was it the horde? I know very little about the history of Azeroth," I admitted.

"Burning Legion," Tori agreed. "And yes, Lady Proudmore is the ruler of Theramore just as Andruin Wrynn is the ruler of Stormwind."

Which brought us back to our original problem. There was a moment of silence, then Vrand asked, "So… why are we going there?"

We all looked to Brecki. The paladin leaned back against the mast and stared out to sea. I raised an eyebrow at her. Finally, Brecki shrugged. "I believe that's where the last clue to King Varian's whereabouts lies."

I tilted my head. "The Missing Diplomat?"

Brecki nodded in my direction. "Maybe Lady Proudmore has discovered something from that traitor?"

Vrand shook her head. "Okay, fill the little druid in here. What traitor? What missing diplomat?"

When Brecki didn't answer, I did. "The Missing Diplomat quest starts in Stormwind. A diplomat disappeared on their way to meet with Lady Proudmore. It's very hush hush and it has something to do with a Defias plot."

Tori snorts, "Don't they all."

I nodded. "I would not be at all surprised to discover that even the Syndicate up in Alterac have ties to the Defias – all evil plots lead to the Defias thieves, it seems." Then I continued my explanation for Vrand's benefit. "Anyway, you track the plot to a traitor stationed at a sentry post outside of Theramore. You defeat him, Lady Proudmore comes and arrests him and promises to investigate the situation. But if the traitor knows where the Defias have hidden the diplomat, he hasn't yet fessed up."

"And the diplomat is…?" Vrand asked, fascinated, "the king? You're serious?"

Tori nodded, "That's why the whole quest is hush hush. Can't let anyone know that the King is gone, after all."

"Hmm..." I tilted my head. "Do you think Lady Prestor is involved with the kidnapping?"

Vrand grinned, "Is she involved with the Defias?"

I laughed, "That is the question, isn't it?"

"She'd never stoop to those levels," Brecki commented.

"Not even if she had something to gain?" I prompted. "I'm not saying she is a part of the organization, but don't you think she would... manipulate the Defias into deciding to kidnap the king if it would help put forward her own plans?"

Brecki pursed her lips. She didn't have an answer for that. Suddenly uneasy, I turned to stare out at the wetlands harbor as it grew distant on the horizon and our ship headed out to sea.


	7. Chapter 7

It's actually an interesting experience riding a boat between continents. You'd think it would take several days – it should! But in fact, it took less than 15 minutes. We watched Menethil Harbor until it had disappeared, then there was a sudden whoosh of wind and I swayed, reaching out to catch myself on the mast. I closed my eyes, dizzy for a long moment, then just as quickly as it had hit, it passed. Looking up slowly, I found myself staring out at a very different sea with a very different view of land on the horizon. And several minutes later, we were stepping off of the boat onto the Theramore dock.

"That… was interesting." I mused.

"Congratulations, girls," Tori laughed, "You have just experienced your first interserver transfer!"

We found Lady Jaina Proudmore of Theramore on the highest level of the tower in the center of town. And it took us less than 2 minutes to learn all that she had to tell us.

Which is to say – nothing.

Three minutes later, I plopped down the steps outside the tower. "Well, phooey."

"Still investigating?" Vrand pouted.

"She'll be investigating until the murlocs come home." Tori complained.

"Welcome to politics," I agreed.

"So, it's up to us, then." Brecki nodded, standing with her hands on her hips as she contemplated the problem.

"To find him?" Vrandi demanded, "But he could be anywhere!"

"We could start with the Defias," Tori suggested, shrugging. "Maybe a trip through the Dead Mines is in order."

"No..." I looked up, blinking. "Wait a second. Think about this logically." Brecki snorted. I continued, "So far everything has happened according to the programming of the game. I mean, except for Whisper growling at Preston and Timmy being best friends with the king and… and us being here at all… besides all that!

"The king is missing. Check. Andruin wants someone to find his father. Check. The missing diplomat quest has the same results as it did when I finished it – no news. Check. So... we have to ask ourselves where the king is in the game." I glanced at Tori, "Not in the Dead Mines."

"Where then?" Tori asked, "Where do you suggest? No one's ever seen the king – I assumed he hadn't been programmed yet."

"But he has," Brecki nodded, "I remember now – one of the girls mentioned finding him. In a cave somewhere. Surrounded by nagas."

I nodded. "It was a place I'd never been to, never heard of. So, I'd say an upper level area."

"Probably 60's or everyone would know about it," Tori agreed thoughtfully.

There was a moment of silence. Then Vrand shrugged, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find someone who can tell us where all the naga caves are!"

Finding all the known naga hideouts was one thing. Finding the one that no one knew about turned out to be a different story all together. We split up to research – I headed to Booty Bay, Brecki to Iron Forge, Vrand to Darnassus and Tori to Stormwind. We met back for dinner that evening at the Theramore Inn, each with a list of caves and nagas all over Azeroth. None of them likely candidates for a Defias hideout.

Frustrated and disappointed, I picked at my food, dropping every other piece down to Whisper, who devoured each one greedily. Brecki and Tori discussed the possible places we could try, but I wasn't listening. At least, not until Vrand suddenly reached out and gripped my arm. I looked up. Then I heard it.

"They're vicious, I tell you! Crazy! And nasty little suckers!" The cry was coming from a rather drunk-looking dwarf sitting at the next table over.

His tablemate laughed, "Not so little, Durgon! They're almost 8 feet tall! And covered in scales! With these claws and they hiss and... damn, I hate those things! Damn nagas, I tell you. They need to clean out the whole entire island before the blasted creatures decide to attack the city!"

I was staring at Vrand, jaw dropped. Tori and Brecki had looked up, too. Slowly, I pulled out my map and carefully opened it up on the table.

"There." Brecki pointed. And it was. There, in the middle of the sea, a couple leagues north-northeast of Theramore… was Alcaz Island.


	8. Chapter 8

If finding the location of the missing King was a challenge, getting to him gave us a new puzzle. "You could get a group and probably get in there," I told Tori, the highest level in our group. While Tori was leveled in the upper 50's, the rest of us had yet to reach level 40, so we would be no help at all against level 50 or 60 nagas.

"I'm squishy," Tori complained. "Besides, I'm not going to go without the rest of you. What's the point?"

"Can we get in without being seen?" Vrand asked.

"You might be able to, in your cat form, but the rest of us couldn't."

"Unless we had an invisibility potion," Brecki ponders.

"Do those really work?" I asked.

"They're expensive," Tori replied. I didn't bother to point out she hadn't answered my question.

"Not if you want to hunt murlocs," Vrand grinned. "There's a guy in Goldshire who can make them."

All I could say to that is – from the mouths of babes.

So, off to Goldshire we went.

Now murlocs are typically nasty, disgusting creatures. At least they are when they are alive. And I can tell you that dead murlocs are really just as nasty and disgusting. I can tell you this because when you introduce a level 55 warlock – no matter how squishy – into a community of 7th and 8th level murlocs... you get a lot of dead murlocs.

It took no time at all for us to collect the crystal kelp we needed and convinced the alchemist guy standing in the inn that he really really wanted to make us some invisibility potions. I can't take credit for that one – when you are a common alchemist hanging out in Goldshire, it's probably not a good idea to piss off the level 55 warlock... or her infernal.

We decided to wait until the next morning to attempt the suicide island run. And thus it was that the next morning we found ourselves swimming out to an island in the middle of the ocean infested by 8 foot nagas.

And no, I can't really comment on our sanity.

Contrary to our fears (or mine anyway), the trip went pretty smoothly. But then, that's about what you might expect from a guild run – no PUGs for us! We took our time, were careful and nope, the nagas never saw us coming. We made it past them into the cave and there...

...stood the king of stormwind.

My first impression was that he was young! Way too young to be the king, in my opinion. He has vivid green eyes and looked like he was once an extremely hot specimen of the other sex. At the moment, though, he had a long, disheveled hair that needed to be cut and he needed to shave badly. And he just looked tired.

He looked up when I accidentally kicked a rock. That's right, go Ms. Hunter!

"Who's there?"

The nagas were out of sight, so we willed ourselves visible again. An odd sensation, willing a potion to stop working. A little like the old phrase, "the trick is to realize there is no spoon." Yeah. A little.

The king relaxed when he saw us. "Visitors? Don't get many of those."

"They need to fix the bridge," I commented. "You're a little out of the way." Not sure what possessed me to make such a smartass comment to the king, but I think I was starting to lose my mind at this point. Two days in a video game can do that to you.

"Hmm..." Varian Wrynn studied me thoroughly for a long minute, then he inspected Vrand, Tori and Brecki. Finally, he said. "So. The patch worked."


	9. Chapter 9

**Note: I apologize for offensive language in this chapter. And it's a very short chapter. It just happened that way. I apologize for that, too!**

"Excuse me?" I said, clearing my throat after a moment of silence. "What was that?"

"You're players, aren't you?" Varian asked. "Brought here by the patch."

"How do you know about the patch?" Tori demanded.

"Ah." The king nodded. "I do owe you an explanation. Very well." Settling himself down against the cave wall, he motioned for us to sit as well. The others sat. I stood until Brecki elbowed me in the shins. I sat.

"My name is Kent Broadwen," the king began. "I was one of the early alpha programmers for the WoW project."

"Oookay... you're starting to spook us out," I commented. "You are a computer program. A mob."

The man shook his head. "I am now. There was an accident during the alpha testing. I had come back to the lab to work on a special AI program that my team was in charge of. Something happened and the program backfired. And I ended up as part of the game."

I wanted to laugh. Really I did. But, there's something about totally unbelievable stories. They are kind of hard to laugh at when you are already staring at the impossible evidence.

"Are you saying that's how we got here?" Vrand asked. "From an AI patch that backfired?"

Varian... or Kent, I suppose... shook his head. "No, the patch you used did exactly what it was supposed to do. You see, I programmed it. I brought you here."

"Why?" Tori demanded.

Varian's expression turned even more serious. "Because I need your help to get home."

I jumped up. I had just about had it. I was tired and cranky. I was an elf in a computer game, for crying out loud. And now I was being told that I had been plucked out of my life, away from my pets and my job and my friends, without asking, because some computer programmer was tired of being the king. My mouth opened and closed several times, but in the end only two words came out.

"Fuck. You."


	10. Chapter 10

There were gasps all around the cave, from everyone except Varian. He stared at me with an unreadable expression.

"Keli!" Brecki scolded, astounded by my callousness. I waved her off.

"You had no right to summon us with out asking us first." I snapped at Varian, jabbing a finger in his direction.

"There was no way to communicate with you," the king replied. "And I didn't know who the patch would bring."

"Well, that makes it all better," I snarled, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Look, I know it wasn't fair to you, but it was the only chance I have."

"And what about our chances?" I retorted. "What are our chances, your _Majesty_?"

Varian winced, but replied, "If all goes to plan, we'll all be back in the real world by next Tuesday."

"If all goes to plan." I closed my eyes. I didn't even have the energy to argue any more. Falling into a pit of despair, I slid back down the cave wall to sit next to Brecki.

"Why Tuesday?" Tori asked.

Varian answered her, but I could still feel his gaze on me. "I have a plan, but it requires another patch to succeed. And Blizzard installs its patches on Tuesdays."

"What makes you think there will be a patch next week?" Brecki asked.

Varian hesitated. "Because this last patch had some... problems. Blizzard will be trying to tweak the bugs next week with a supplemental patch."

I opened my eyes. Varian was still looking at me. "What aren't you telling us?"

The king shot me a grin and for just an instant I saw the handsome computer mind he must have once been. "Because I bugged the main patch. I made sure that there would be problems for Blizzard to solve."

I closed my eyes again. There was a long moment. I'm not sure why everyone was waiting for me. Finally, I sighed. "What do we need to do?"

I could have sworn I heard a sigh of relief from Varian, but when I opened my eyes, he was all business. "The patch that Blizzard releases next Tuesday will provide the road for us all to get back to the real world, but we'll need a… vehicle to pass through the gate."

"What kind of vehicle?" Vrand asked, all of us frowning as we listened.

"A very special one. The pieces for it are new, introduced in the last patch – yes, my doing –" he added before I could ask. "You just have to get the pieces and put it together."

"What exactly is it that we are making?" Tori asked. "A car?"

Varian shook his head, "No, a mount. A very special mount. More specifically, these pieces will allow you to make the tackle for the mount. Special reins will allow it to make it through the gate. And an epic saddle will allow us all to ride it."

It made sense. Short and sweet. Or so I thought.

"Where do we find these pieces?" I asked. To my dismay, Varian shook his head.

"I don't know."

"What?" I half stood again before Brecki held me down. "You said you programmed them."

Varian nodded. "But you were right earlier when you said I'm just a mob. I don't know more than my programming. I have set it up as a quest that you are all capable of doing. That is the best I could do within the foundations of the game."

There was a small silence. Tori asked, "Can you give us any clues? Any at all? What do these things look like? How many are there?"

Varian nodded and looked relieved. I have a feeling he couldn't give us the information until we asked for it. "There are five items. You'll know them when you see them... I hope. The only other thing I can tell you is that each item represents a different spirit of the world."

"I beg your pardon?" I asked.

Varian shook his head and said, "The elements. Each item is made up of a different element."

"I thought there are only four elements?" Vrand asked. "You said there were five items?"

Varian shrugged, "I don't know how the fifth item works. You'll have to figure that out yourself."

"So, these items will be in areas fitting their element?" I asked. "The water-based item will be in a sea or some water-based area?"

Varian nodded and took a deep breath. "Yes. Exactly. Will you find them?"

A pause. "We'll do our best," Tori promised. "How long do we have?"

Varian glanced at all of us for a long moment, then replied, "You must find all the items, piece them together into the reins and saddle, and then come get me. I can show you where the gate is. We must be at that gate, waiting by Tuesday morning."

"And what happens if we can't do all that in five days?" I asked, already dreading the answer.

The king's voice turned foreboding. "There will not be another gate patch. This is our only chance."


	11. Chapter 11

There wasn't much more that we could learn from the King, so before long we agreed to hearth back to Stormwind. I watched Vrand, Brecki and Tori disappear in a flash of green, then pulled out my small stone hearthstone and prepared to transport as well. I was still concentrating on the stone's spell when a movement startled me. Turning, I saw a naga rush into the cave, screeching. She didn't seem to see me or the king at first, but when she reached the back of the cave, she turned. Our eyes met and I knew I had just found trouble. So, I did the first thing that came to mind. I ran.

I made it all the way out of the cave to the entrance, where I stopped. There, on the island just in front of the cave, was the ugliest person I had ever seen. He looked like the cross between a skeleton and a decomposing corpse, except that he was glowing purple and was kind of transparent, like a purple glowing undead ghost. Or something. He had a staff and was happily smashing away at a circle of nagas. What else I might have seen I do not know, because at that moment, the first naga caught up with me. I felt her loom up and then my entire world went black.

It's quite a strange experience, being dead. You can't see anything but your own body and there's this mental tug that keeps you from drifting away. I paused for a moment, experiencing the new sensation before I decided to cut the tie that held me over my body. I suppose I should have been scared – I was dead! – but I guess the fact that I was walking through a video game had finally sunk in. I had already decided to find the spirit healer and rez at the nearest safe graveyard. I had no intention of coming back to see the nagas. But just as I was about to release from my corpse, I felt a shudder run through my spirit and then the world went black once more.

When I awoke, it was to the pounding thud of a vicious headache. I stifled a groan and squeezed my eyes shut. My mind was so groggy that it took me several long seconds to remember who I was or what had happened. As to where I was...

I found myself laying on a cold stone floor. The world was still black, but I soon realized that that was because of the thick blindfold that was covering my eyes. My shoulders felt like they were going to jerk out of their sockets as they were wrenched back, and my wrists were tied brutally together behind my back. The air was hot and dry, very different from the brisk sea breeze that had been blowing in at Theramore. And even through the blindfold, I could sense bright sunlight. A short ways away, I could hear the whistle of a wind through tight spaces, but it was muffled, suggesting that I was inside a building of some sort. That idea was confirmed when I heard the sound of a thin door open and slap closed again, heralded by the approaching sound of someone's big feet.

"Kef thakul! Garlorv hak sin adorl. Juerloku!"

I froze. Great. Just great. Fabulous! How the hell did I go from being dead to being a horde prisoner?

"Keli?" The familiar voice whispered in my ear. "Keli, what happened?"

I coughed and, realizing that I must still be wearing my guild headset, cleared my voice. "I'm not sure. I think I'm in a horde compound of some kind."

"Where?" Brecki asked, all business.

"How the hell should I know?" I muttered, then winced. I was being a bitch. "I can't see anything."

"Why didn't they just kill you?" Tori asked. "I didn't know Horde took prisoners."

"They don't," Brecki relied.

"Look, you three start working on finding those items," I told my guild mates. "I'll figure a way out of here. They can't keep me forever." Why would they want to?

Grudgingly, the other girls agreed and once more I found myself alone with the hollering voice of the orc. At least he hadn't started getting violent yet. And it sounded like he was yelling at someone else other than me. I listened to his enraged jibberish for several minutes before I heard the second voice. It was raspy, like a man with a severe case of strep throat. It wasn't yelling but never the less he seemed to be arguing with the orc. The orc hollered a few more words, then stormed out, physically slamming the door behind him. The door slapped hard against the frame and bounced several times before closing a final time.

There was a moment of silence, then I felt a pair of icy cold fingers brush my face and the blindfold was pulled from my eyes. Blinking in the brilliant light beaming in through two windows of the red stone building, I stared up at the face of a male undead. The same glowing purple undead male that I had seen fighting nagas the instant before I died.


	12. Chapter 12

I'm sorry to say that I did not spew any wittily smart ass remark at my captor. I can't even claim that I was kept silent by a gag around my mouth, because there wasn't one. But I was silent for a long moment, most probably because the shock of the situation was hitting me hard.

The undead stared at me hard with his glowing green eyes and I shivered, but managed to – barely – hold his gaze. Finally he sat back. I swallowed. There was an even longer stare, then he pointed at himself. "Ke'ii Nakutk."

"Huh?" Was my super intelligent response.

"Nakutk."

"Riiiight."

The undead stood and I could tell he was frustrated, though I'm not sure how I knew. You try reading the expression of a half-skeleton creature, much less one that's still sort of translucent and glowing purple to boot. He jabbed a finger at his chest. "Hp. Nakutk."

And the light bulb went on. "Oh." I licked my lips. "I'm Kelirien."

"Eymkeleeryan."

I couldn't hide a laugh and a shook my head. "Keli." I corrected. "Just Keli."

"Khelee." Nakutk sounded out my name and a nodded. Then there was a long pause. A hundred questions went through my head, from 'what do you want?' to 'will you let me go?'. But try expressing those questions past the language barrier. Finally, I turned and jerked my bound wrists in question. Nakutk grimaced and sighed, shaking his head and pointing out the door where the orc had gone. I nodded. Okay, so Mr. Nasty Orc was in charge. Good thing to know.

"Huts iulph." Nakutk said, giving me a motion with his palm out, a motion I could only translate as 'wait'. Like I was going anywhere. Then he slipped out of the building as well.

When Nakutk returned, he had a bowl of something that must have been considered edible by horde culture. I would have disputed that, but it turned out I was actually pretty hungry. So when Nakutk finally untied my hands, I managed to consume the entire meal. The whole time Nakutk watched me, as if there was something about me that he did not understand. I tried to ignore the gaze and focus on my own thoughts as I ate. I had died. I remembered that. But instead of returning to the graveyard, I had appeared here. How? I wracked my brain for any game explanations, but none came to me. The only answer I could think of was that, somehow, this undead had resurrected me.

Impossible. Completely, absolutely impossible. For one, because horde characters cannot cast beneficial spells on alliance characters. For another, because as far as I knew, the shadowform that shadowpriests preferred kept them from casting healing or resurrection spells. And that was precisely the form that my mysterious, purple glowing benefactor had yet to change out of.

Over the next day, Nakutk and I tried our best to communicate. I still don't understand most of what he was trying to say, but I gathered that it had something to do with King Varian. I was still puzzling over it all when Nakutk tied my hands back once more and left for the night.

I can't say that I tossed and turned all night, or that I slept soundly. Because in fact, I was awakened not an hour after I dozed off with a pair of cold hands. One clamped warningly over my mouth while the other pulled at my bindings. Nodding, I promised to remain silent and waited while Nakutk freed my hands. Then he handed me a bag and even in the dark, I could feel the worn, hardy leather of my own backpack. Silently, I threw it on, then accepted my weapons, armor and other bags. I admit that I was befuddled by the change of events, but a feeling in my gut had me convinced that, somehow, Varian had to be involved. I'd take it up with him later, I promised myself as I dutifully kept silent and followed Nakutk out.

When I stepped out of the building, I found myself standing in the sky. Or that was my first impression as I was surrounded by a clear night, sparkling with stars. There were a few other buildings around, but most of them were connected with hand built rope bridges. A sudden feeling of dizziness hit me and I had to brace myself on a wall of the building before I looked around again. I had to have been a thousand feet up into the air. In the distance I could see silhouettes of spires, huge mesas, rising up to our level. Very likely the similar to the mesa we were standing on. Even in the dark night I could see the glint of red on the distant towers and the red dust that kicked up under my feet. It didn't take more than a quick analysis of all of the horde communities that I knew of to pinpoint where I had to be.

We were at the top of Thousand Needles.

Nakutk was quick to steady me as I regained my bearings, but he didn't wait much longer before leading me hurriedly into the night. We ducked behind buildings and away from possible horde before finally making it to a small, very steep and extremely dark staircase that lead down into the canyon. "You want me to go down that?" I hissed, but Nakutk's dark glare and snarl reminded me of my promise to be quiet. Then he began climbing. It didn't take me long to assess my options.

I followed.


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the night, we made our escape. Down the stairs and then north through the canyon of Thousand Needles. We both considered carefully whether to brave the elven controlled wilderness of Faralas or the attempt the great elevator that lead into the Barrens. In the end, we took the elevator. Two tauren guarded the top, but they weren't all that alert, and by the time they had spotted me, I was already well away.

From there we headed north through the barrens to the Crossroads. There, I asked, through motions, if Nakutk wanted to separate. I was safe and I could head north into Ashenvale. But he shook his head and refused to leave. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to force him to do anything he didn't want to do, so we skirted around the Crossroads and headed into Ashenvale together. Finally, in the deep rich forests, we retired for the night. I called Whisper to me and we took down a nice stag for dinner, cooking it and sharing it with Nakutk before the undead and I fell asleep, leaving Whisper to keep watch.

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of Brecki. "Keli? Where are you?"

I stirred and my eyes blinked open. It must have been almost nine in the morning, but the thick foliage above me kept the sun from shining brightly into the deep woods. "Ashenvale." I replied, sitting up. I glanced at Nakutk, but he was still sleeping, so I stood and made my way a little way from camp so as not to wake him. "There's an undead priest named Nakutk who helped me escape."

"Why?" Tori asked and I shrugged even though she couldn't see him.

"I'm not sure," I replied. "I'll have to ask King Varian. Nakutk was there farming nagas when we left Varian. He saved me, but I still don't know why."

There was a moment of silence, then Brecki said, "Well, we're in his debt. For now, we have these items to worry about. Tori found the first piece."

"That's wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Where? What is it?"

"I think it's the fire-aspect," Tori replied. "I found it in the Searing Gorge." There was a pause, then she said, "It's a blacksmithing recipe."

Another pause. Finally, Brecki spoke up, "Tori's given it to me, but the materials are crazy. I'm going to have to get started immediately if I'm going to be able to make it in four days."

I let out a huff of breath. "Great. Can you tell us what it's a recipe for?"

Brecki laughed a little, "A saddle."

"Do you think the rest of the pieces we need will be recipes, too?" Vrandi asked. "Keli and I are both leatherworkers and Tori's a tailor, right? But King Varian said we needed five pieces."

"Let's worry about that when we get that far," I said. "For now we have to find them. If Tori found the fire-aspect" (since that was as good a term as any for these items) "in the searing gorge, maybe we should look in places that reflect the elements." I considered, then said, "Since Nakutk and I are here in Ashenvale, why don't we do some looking in Zoram Strand. Maybe even set into Blackfathom Deeps. The water-aspect might be there."

"It could also be in the Vile Reef," Brecki commented.

"Or off of Darkshore," Vrandi added.

"Or anywhere." Tori muttered.

"Well, we have to start somewhere." I retorted. "Nakutk and I will take a look at BFD. Vile Reef is a good place to look as well. Any other suggestions? We need water, air, and earth."

"And a fifth spirit we don't know of," Vrandi sighed. "But let's start with these. Mind if I join you, Keli?"

"Sure," I nodded, heading back to camp to wake my undead companion. "How soon can you get here?"

"I'll fly out from Iron Forge right now."


	14. Chapter 14

**Edited – 1/09/05**

It was still nigh impossible to communicate with my undead companion, but I was able to convey 'follow me'. And we made our way to the coast of the Zoram Strand where we met Vrand. The young night elf druid greeted Nakutk with the minimal amount of trepidation and Nakutk looked equally uncomfortable as he returned the greeting. Then we headed into the depths of the Black Fathoms.

I have to admit that the Black Fathom Deeps, or BFD, has always been my favorite instance as a player. But exploring a dungeon through a computer game isn't quite the same as personally diving into underwater caverns filled with snake people and giant turtles. Not to mention the warlocks and three headed dragon. But it wasn't the fear or wariness that affected me the most as we made our way through the underwater caves. It was the awe. I've never, in my wildest dreams, seen anything quite as beautiful as the Black Fathom Deeps. The water is a brilliant blue and it lights up the cavern walls as if the walls themselves are made of crystals. At first the ceiling is low, giving the impression of a secret world more than a hidden hideout for an evil secret society. Eventually, we came to a sight that shot a shiver up my spine and made me feel more like Alice in Wonderland than a computer game character.

As we rounded a corner in the tunnel, I stopped short to keep from running into a copy of myself. I blinked and reoriented myself. We found ourselves standing in front of a… doorway (there's no better word for it) that looked like a cross between the Stargate and Alice's looking glass. The door had a rippling, fluid-like appearance, but it reflected the tunnel where we stood back at us, as if we were staring at our own reflections in the surface of some vertical pond.

Vrand and I exchanged glances, but before we could react further, Nakutk stepped forward and disappeared into the doorway. Vrand squeaked with surprise and I rubbed my eyes.

"That must be the entrance," I said at the same time that Vrand murmured, "the instance!"

I stepped forward and reached out a hand, palm forward, towards the instance. No sooner had my palm touched the rippling surface than my entire world turned upside down.

Imagine how it must feel to be beamed up in Star Trek, or how using a port key is supposed to feel to Harry Potter, or how it must feel to travel light years through a stargate and you'll pretty much be right on with how it feels to enter an instance. Ironically, when I found solid ground beneath my feet again, I hadn't traveled light years, or even to another town. In fact, I hadn't moved more than a foot. But the change felt immediate. The ceiling was much higher and there was a silence much deeper than anything I'd ever felt before. It reached under my skin and gave me the distinct impression that I was the last person on earth. That is, until Vrand came through the instance right on top of me and shoved me forward, causing me to trip over Whisper, who meowed in protest.

"Oops. Sorry."

Ahead of us, Nakutk had already begun to move down the hall and there were already two corpses of snake people littering the tunnel.

Vrand snorted. "What level is he anyway?"

"My guess is sixty," I shrugged. "Let's go."

Our trip through the Blackfathom Deeps was quick and painless. We were careful to inspect every nook and cranny for a possible quest item and after a while Nakutk must have figured out what we were doing, because he began to look too. But we didn't find anything until we reached the giant three headed dragon at the end of the massive dungeon. We cleared away the turtles that guarded the dragon's lair and were about to start in, when Nakutk got my attention and shook his head violently. He made several motions that I didn't understand, then in the next moment he… disappeared.

There was a long silence between Vrand and I because we were both too surprised to speak. Finally, my friend cleared her voice. "He's gone? Disconnected, do you think?"

"I…" I cleared my throat. "I guess? If we're the only ones in the game, maybe the other player characters will have to disconnect for dinner and work and such?"

"And social lives."

"What social lives?" I retorted. "We're Warcraft Addicts."

"Touche."

I took a deep breath. "Well, we can't stop now. Let's take down this dragon."

I won't go into a great deal of detail about the fight with the dragon, because it's embarrassing. At level 37, I should have been able to solo the beast, elite or not. But trying too hard to keep my companion alive distracted me and… well, you try fighting a three headed dragon in real life! It's not the same as using the computer! Even so, I'm not sure what happened, I just know that one minute I was sending Whisper in to tank and the next, I was down.

"Shit!"

"What? What happened?" Brecki demanded as I fumed over my body.

"I died. Vrand?"

"It's okay – hey wait!" I heard Vrand's laugh, "Nakutk's back!"

A few seconds later, I was able to release from my corpse and I sat in the graveyard, waiting for confirmation.

"He's down!" Vrand cried. "And… DING!"

"Congrats!"

"Whoohoo!"

After a chorus of cheers, I sobered and asked, "Any sign of our water aspect?"

"No, not that – hold on." Silence. Then: "Nakutk found it. Yes! We got it!"


End file.
